Who was:
avid outdoors man
vaudeville musician
recording artist
creator of first RV
seller of war bonds for WWI
life-time member of Save the Redwoods
bird singer
Why, it’s Charles Kellogg. Never heard of him? Neither had I. But, he’s one of those remarkable unsung individuals that crop up every now and then and make a real difference. He was born in California with exceptional vocal cords which enabled him to sing like a bird. While we were in the Humboldt State Park Visitor Center, reading about his exploits, we listened to a recording of his singing like a bird. Amazing. He tweeted and trilled like a bird in the trees. Now, maybe a bird could tell the difference but I thought he sounded like a real bird. He also had a good singing voice and was signed to a recording contract by Victor. He also made quite a name for himself in Vaudeville, traveling all over the country.
He was an avid outdoors man and very interested in the plight of the redwoods which were being chopped down and made into homes as fast as they could be. He said, “ …. At the present rate of destruction there will not be a single stand of redwood in the whole state [of California] within 100 years.” And, “I kept thinking and thinking ….. how to take the forests out into the world.” He eventually came up with a very novel answer: why not tour in a motor home built out of an entire tree? He, of course, toured in a tree that had already died.
Supported by Sunset magazine and Pacific Lumber Company, he began his project in 1917 with a donated Nash Quad truck which was a durable, heavy truck. Nash Quads gained fame during WWI by moving materials in some of the harshest conditions and continued afterwards as heavy work trucks for logging and construction. Pacific Lumber then found a fallen redwood on the Bull Creek Flats on the Eel River where we hiked today. It was 360’ long and 11’ in diameter.
He had a 22’ section removed, debarked and hollowed using the Nash Quad and a battering ram. It weighed 3 tons and was then attached to the chassis of the truck. It was outfitted with a bed, windows, a small kitchenette (or is that a tautology?), wiring, a sink, several cabinets with a table.
Look at the size of that door and dig those fancy windows.
He began his tour in October of 1917 and actually sold war bonds along his route. He began spreading the word about the destruction of the great redwood forests that used to cover the coastal region of California. Many of the people he spoke with had never heard of, much less seen, the giant redwoods. He spoke of the logging taking place and how the destruction was accelerating. He would tour for about 3 - 4 months and then return to his home in California. He drove his RV 4 times across the US on solid, hard, pure rubber tires (no cushioning air in these babies).
It couldn’t have been a comfortable ride, since most highways at that time were dirt, mud, sand and terribly rutted. Directions, road signs, highway maps? Nonexistent. Full hook-ups: not even a dream. But he had a goal and a message that he wanted to spread.
And, there’s the story of Charles Kellogg, an unsung hero in the fight to save the Redwoods for prosperity for us and for our generation and for all those others still to come. Without farsighted people like Kellogg, we might not have all that we have now. And, without out those fighting to save what we have now, we won’t leave anything for the future.
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